Ex-Wissahickon Middle School teacher accused of inappropriately touching two girls

COURTHOUSE — A former Wissahickon Middle School teacher accused of touching two female students in an inappropriate manner has admitted that his conduct endangered the children.

Ronald Goldberg, 65, of the 200 block of Towyn Court, Lower Gwynedd, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Court on Wednesday to two misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a child in connection with incidents that occurred between 2003 and 2009.

“He admitted that if we called the victims of this case to the stand that we could prove that he inappropriately touched both of them while he was their teacher and when he had a duty of care to make sure that they were protected,” Assistant District Attorney Jeremy Abidiwan-Lupo said after the brief hearing before President Judge William J. Furber Jr. “The victims both were in sixth-grade. This happened during school hours, during the lunch break and during class time.

“He was a teacher at the school. He was their teacher and it was his role to make sure that they received the education they needed. However, he caused them to have years and years of issues because of what he did to them. It was a breach of trust that the kids had in their own teacher, that the parents had in the teacher and ultimately that the community had in the teacher to educate the kids and not end up harming them,” Abidiwan-Lupo added.

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Furber deferred sentencing so that court officials can complete a background investigative report about Goldberg, who remains free on bail pending sentencing. Goldberg, who was represented by defense lawyer Marc Steinberg, faces a possible maximum sentence of 5 to 10 years in prison on the charges.

Abidiwan-Lupo vowed to seek a jail sentence against Goldberg, who no longer works for the school district. The guilty plea virtually ensures that Goldberg will never teach again.

“The commonwealth will ask for jail time in this case because of his position of authority and what he did to the victims,” Abidiwan-Lupo said.

“One of the main goals of this case was to make sure that he would not have any contact with any students ever again. Thankfully, because of how courageous (the victims) were and how brave they were (in coming forward) they are making sure that no other students are going to be touched by this individual,” Abidiwan-Lupo added.

The victims were not in the courtroom on Wednesday.

Other charges of indecent assault and corruption of minors are slated to be dismissed against Goldberg at time of sentencing.

The charges stem from allegations that Goldberg inappropriately touched two of his female students, one during the 2003-04 school year and the other during the 2008-09 school year, according to the criminal complaint filed by Lower Gwynedd Detective Glenn Fowler.

A 15-year-old female reported Goldberg’s inappropriate contact to police in October 2011, and during the police investigation, a 20-year-old female came forward with similar allegations against Goldberg, according to the arrest affidavit.

According to the criminal complaint, the victims alleged the contact occurred while Goldberg was a sixth-grade language arts teacher at the middle school. The contact happened at the school, located at 500 Houston Road in the Ambler section of Lower Gwynedd, and the contact included Goldberg touching intimate parts of their bodies, according to the complaint.

“Both students described how the touching occurred during school hours at Wissahickon Middle School and how Goldberg gave them money or food during the year,” Fowler alleged in the arrest affidavit.

The 20-year-old woman told police that at the beginning of the 2003-04 school year, Goldberg began touching parts of her body, with it progressing to him touching her “breasts, butt and front area” in the teacher’s lounge on two separate occasions, according to court documents. Goldberg allegedly continued to touch her inappropriately while in the classroom until the student reported it to her parents in February 2004.

The 15-year-old girl reported Goldberg began touching her in an inappropriate manner during the middle of the 2008-09 school year when she was a sixth-grader, according to the complaint. The same girl reported Goldberg placed his hand inside her underwear on one occasion, according to the complaint, and also offered her money to purchase lunch and bought her a yearbook.

The Wissahickon School District issued a brief statement after Goldberg’s arrest.

“Dr. Goldberg retired from the district in June 2009 and has not been affiliated with the district since then,” the district wrote. “The Wissahickon School District will continue to cooperate with law enforcement authorities in the future regarding this situation.”